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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.